5 Simple Tricks for a Smooth, 'Walang Masungit' School Morning

Get everything ready the night before. Sleep and wake up earlier. These are a few morning routine tips you may have already heard before, and are maybe even tired of hearing. If you're looking for suggestions that require less changes to your routine, but are just as effective, read on: 1. Wake your child up with a snuggle. Children are hard to wake up early in the morning. Worse, when they do, they can be in an awful mood. To avoid this, experts recommend starting the day right by reconnecting with your child. “For kids going to sleep at night means they are on their own,” Betsy Brown Braun, a child development and behavioral specialist, told Parenting. “I look at the morning as the oasis after the drought.”

Try waking up your littler learner with a snuggle in bed and soft but cheerful conversation. Say good morning, tell her what you’ve made for breakfast or remind her of something fun she’ll be doing at school today. It may take away a few minutes in your morning routine. However, it’s absolutely worth it if it makes everyone’s happier and more cooperative in the morning.

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2. Motivate -- don’t dictate. Keep in mind: your aim is to get everyone ready and out the door, but your child may not share the same goal. He doesn’t feel the need to dress quickly or make sure he eats his breakfast. And, barking orders at your child to hurry up may just make him more reluctant to do so. The solution then is to motivate and not to dictate.

Your presence, motivation, and help will move things along. When he’s sitting down at the table but reluctant to eat breakfast, say something like, “Hey, why don’t you try mixing your own bowl of champorado this time?” When he’s putting on his shoes, comment on how good he is now at tying his laces.

3. Keep cool. Have you noticed that when you start to stress that’s when everything seems to go wrong? You’re not just imagining it. “The more you rush in the morning, the slower your kids will move,” said Kirk Martin, a behavioral consultant. Your child won’t be happy in the morning if you’re not, so stop what you’re doing and take a breather. Signal to your child that the both of you will work together to get things done by making eye contact or gently touching her arm. This will re-establish that much-needed parent-child connection in the morning. “Once we connect with a child, compliance follows,” said Martin.

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4. Be smart about the time. If you know that fixing your child’s bag in the morning puts you both in a frantic and sour mood, then place the task as a to-do the night before instead. Morning routines hinge on how well you manage the limited time you have. Be smart about it and move around morning tasks to make your routine more efficient. If you have trouble thinking of what to make for breakfast and baon in the morning, decide on it the night before too. And, if your child doesn’t like taking a shower as soon as he wakes up, maybe it will be better if breakfast comes first. 5. Play music.Here’s a simple trick you can try: play feel-good tunes in the morning to set the mood for a wonderful day ahead. Pick a few songs that you know your child loves singing or dancing to and play it while she’s getting ready. It may just surprise you at how willing and cooperative she’ll be while “Happy” from the Despicable Me 2 movie or “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from Trolls is playing in the background.